BIOGRAPHY: DAVID M MCGLYNN

Singer-Songwriter | Journal Writer | Photographer | World-Traveler | Birder | Award-Winning Marketer

MUSIC & SONGWRITING

Singer-Songwriter

I am an indie, folk-pop, singer-songwriter who combines my love of indie pop music with Americana soundscapes… think 70’s singer-songwriters + 90’s alt-radio + soundtrack music.

At the center is me & my acoustic guitar. I tend to add layers of big guitar & keyboard melodies, ropey basslines, & string arrangements, over lyrics focused on personal experience. I’m told my left-handed, upside-down, reverse fingerpicking style adds even more to my unique sound.

Influences include U2, Coldplay, Radiohead, John Mayer, Ryan Adams, Sting, Wilco, Chris Cornell, Andrew Bird, Beck, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Counting Crows, Toad the Wet Sprocket, R.E.M., Duncan Sheik, Chris Whitley, Martin Sexton, Alexi Murdoch, the Punch Brothers, Hans Zimmer, Pat Metheny, and various jazz artists.

My latest release, “Life’s Moments,” came out in March 2022 and is an 11-song, full-length studio recording. Best described as a sonic soundtrack complete with layers of melodic guitar and keyboard textures, string orchestration, and lyric themes around relationships, connections to nature, and God. Every song is as different as my influences. Two singles were released in support of “Life’s Moments”, “Lost In A Hotel Room” and “Answer”, both receiving favorable reviews and Spotify streams. My latest songs draw comparisons to Matt Nathanson, Peter Bradley Adams, and Toad the Wet Sprocket.

It was recorded by Joey Gurwin, a Grammy-nominated producer, (O.A.R., A$AP, Mac Miller) at Oranjudio Studios and Brandon Coleman (Brandon Coleman Quartet, Randy Villars, Sam Blakeslee, Dan Pugach Nonet) at the Golden Mean Studios in Cincinnati OH. It was mixed and mastered by Brandon Coleman and produced by Brandon Coleman, Jeff Mellott, and myself. “Life’s Moments” was released on Sunshine House Records.

Earlier releases include, “Perspectives” (9/21), a 4-song live video & EP release of reworked and reimagined songs from my 2015 release, “In Pursuit of an Authentic Life.” It was recorded with my new band in one, 3-hour live session in February 2021. The band had been working with me on my new recordings over the last few years, and before releasing the new songs, they thought it would be fun to get together and rerecord a few of their favorites from my previous release, offering a fresh perspective and showcasing what the band sounds like live.

Between July - September of 2020, with the Global pandemic in full swing, Jeffery & I hosted an 8-week, Summer Facebook Live Show, “Songs & Stories from The Blue Velvet Couch.” It was a weekly, 60-minute show featuring songs, special guest performances & interviews with local musicians & people who inspired the songs, as well as online conversations with friends and fans. Throughout the series, I ran through an original catalog of 25+ songs. You can check out the series here: https://www.davidmmcglynn.com/blue-velvet-couch-series

Previous releases include, You Are The Songs Of My Heart (2016) and In Pursuit of an Authentic Life (2015). “In Pursuit…” was ambitious; with only a framework of ideas and no band, it was created all in the studio as we went, transforming a set of my very personal life experiences into fully produced songs, adding a wide range of quirky instrumentation, lush vocal arrangements, and string orchestration. 

It was recorded, produced & mastered by Norm Demoura, a Grammy-nominated producer, at Harmonium Studios in Western, MA.  Norm has worked with several notable artists including pianist Terry Adams from NRBQ and Susan Tedeschi from Tedeschi Trucks Band. In Pursuit of an Authentic Life features guest performances by Mike Levesque on drums (David Bowie, Seven Mary Three), Joe Boyle (Peter Tork), Scott Levesque (Wheat, skyjelly), and Rick Lescault (skyjelly, emetrex).

emetrex

Before becoming a singer-songwriter, I was a founding member, bass player & (sometimes) drummer of emetrex, a Boston-based indie alternative rock band.  The band signed with Seriously Groovy Records, an independent London-based label in 2000.

While on Seriously Groovy Records, the band put out 9 CDs & EPs - 50 songs between 2000 - 2005, including the critically acclaimed "King of Animals" single which received BBC airplay and was supported with a tour through England, Ireland & Scotland. emetrex played NXNE in Canada. In our time together, the band received +500 reviews, including 5/5 stars in The Big Issue (April 2005), for our "Wish Me Dead" release, with the reviewer stating, "...hold on, it might just be one of the best albums of the year!" emetrex opened for several headlining bands including The Darkness, The Sea & Cake, & Wheat.

Blair’s Carriage

Before emetrex, I was an original member & bass player of the post-punk band Blair’s Carriage.

In four years, Blair’s Carriage released a total of 20 original songs, did live radio interviews, and had singles played on WBRU, the #1 commercial, alt-rock radio station in Rhode Island, along with several regional college stations in New England. Subcorridor Records, an indie label from San Francisco, CA, released a limited edition 7" single on red vinyl.

Blair’s Carriage was a regional favorite, playing 100’s of shows and opening for several early ‘90’s alt-rock headliners and regional favorites including Blind Melon, Guster, The Soup Dragons, The Smithereens, members of Folk Implosion, Material Girl, Morphine, Letters to Cleo, Buffalo Tom, The Wedding Present, Luna, Helium, Polvo, dig, Codeine, Gravel Pit, Francine, Scarce, The Edgar Winter Group, The Guess Who & Jim Carroll. 

In addition, I was one of the first to play in Tracy Bonham’s original band, playing keyboards and bass.

WORDS & JOURNAL

I’ve kept a personal journal since November 1996.

In it, I’ve written down my observations, conversations, & adventures with the people, places, and situations I have experienced in my life.  My journals hold my most personal thoughts & intimate emotions, all my dreams & ambitions, vulnerabilities & heartbreaks, successes & failures, hopes & fears, my aspirations & doubts, all my beliefs, theories, ideas and personal philosophies.

All of this energy, all this effort, all this time spent in self-reflection. My attempt to understand who I am, what I believe, what my purpose is and how I connect to everything around me as I try to live as authentic a life as possible.

In that time, I estimate I have spent over 13,500 hours of my life journaling. At 40 hours a week, it’s equivalent to 6 1/2 years!

When I started to think, “How many words have I written in my various journals?” I concluded that I’ve written approximately 10,000,000 words over the last 28 years. 10 MILLION!

I call it my Daily Practice. I believe any creative work centers on practice.

Words have always been central to my life.

The things I think,

turn into the words I write,

into the words I say,

and into the words I sing… 

EXPERIENCES & TRAVEL

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; It should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain.

5 Continents

North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia

24 Countries & Territories

Canada, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rico, Peru, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Australia, and the United States.

49 States in the United States

The one left? Wisconsin.

And, given my love of the outdoors, I’ve had the privilege of visiting 100’s of international, national, state & local parks and wildlife areas.

I estimate I have taken well over 500 separate trips, through 100 different airports… and none of this includes repeats.

Anthony Bourdain’s quote so perfectly sums up my personal experience with traveling. Traveling has not only changed me, but has significantly influenced my perspective & shaped my worldview. He was right when he said:

“It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body.”

So many vivid memories of the places & the people:

  • Various interactions with middle school students in China who wanted to speak English with me.

  • Making street food at midnight with four brothers in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

  • Spending a day with local villagers in the Peruvian mountains participating in a “day in the life” experience. 

  • Being held up & robbed at gunpoint in the jungles of Nicaragua in the middle of a birdwatching adventure.

  • Visiting a Vietnamese refugee fishing village in the middle of Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia.

  • Sleeping overnight on a junk boat on Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.

  • Seeing the pubs of England, Ireland & Scotland as my band played a two-week tour.

  • Skiing the Swiss Alps.

  • Seeing the resplendent quetzal in the jungles of Costa Rica.

  • Watching a whale breach the surface of the ocean from a beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

  • Driving through the beautiful, bucolic farmlands of Prince Edward Island, Canada.

  • Exploring the streets & museums of Paris, France.

Traveling around the world has changed my life. It has allowed me to meet people where they are and experience the sights & smells of places as they are. My first-hand experiences have allowed me the opportunity to see things for myself. The world is a beautiful, complicated place and my beliefs are constantly tested, being flipped upside down and turned inside out. Always curious, traveling has made me more empathetic, kind, & understanding, and hopefully, less judging & selfish. It has convinced me more strongly than ever, that we need to share our experiences.

When I was 25, I made a pact with myself to visit a new country every year. And now, even after all these years, having missed a few here and there, I am still up to 23 different countries. 23. Simply because I set a goal. I still hope to see at least 50 countries before I travel into the next life…

PHOTOGRAPHY, PHOTO-ESSAYS & NATURE

And all of the details of these moments have been captured in 100,000+ of photographs I have taken along the way.

I have been an avid photographer for many years focusing on my interests in nature, birds, wildlife and everyday observations throughout all of my travels.

As an avid birdwatcher, my work has been published in Bird Observer and has been featured in exhibits including "A Nature Exhibit of Southeastern New England" sponsored by Wildlands Trust.

AND A LITTLE ABOUT MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE…

In college, I studied to be an anthropologist, archaeologist, cartographer & history teacher. Ultimately, I became a results-driven and highly energetic Chief of Staff, senior marketing, and advertising agency professional, who has worked for & with 20+ Fortune 1000 companies and 4 award-winning, advertising agencies.

Most recently, in October of 2023, the Marketing and Communications team I lead at the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati was recognized as a Top 50 Global Marketing and Communications team.

In 2020… I was personally recognized as a Top 50 Global Marketer, as voted on by over 4,500 of my professional marketing peers.

(About both awards: Award winners (individuals and teams) were selected by marketing professionals and the marketing community. Voters selected marketers that they felt demonstrated a good mix of success and positive impact on their organization and/or previous organizations, made strong contributions to the marketing community through thought leadership, have been innovative, and have exhibited great leadership.)

Swivel, (a sales enablement & marketing performance startup where I was the Chief Strategist and Chief of Staff), was recognized as the “Sales Enablement Company of the Year in 2020” by the American Marketing Association in Cincinnati, OH.

In between, I’ve scooped ice cream at Friendly’s Ice Cream, worn a headset at Taco Bell, been certified as a sandwich artist at Subway & certified in the Staples Way Sales Process. I’ve been mentored by the creatives responsible for the original Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man” campaign, the Staples EASY button & the original Jared “Big Pants” campaign, meeting celebrities, professional athletes, and musicians along the way. 

The work I’ve done in developing my organization’s culture; integrating core principles, business practices & branding into a transformational, go-to-market business strategy, was published in The Energy Bus Field Guide (Wiley Publisher December 2017) by Jon Gordon & Amy P Kelly as a featured case study. That culture & internal team leadership training created the framework for my organization to be recognized as a Top Workplace in Cincinnati for 7 consecutive years, from 2014 – 2020.

Most recently, I was an invited, featured speaker at the 2023 CEEAA Engineering Symposium in Ningbo, China. Other speaking engagements have included:

  • ONCON Marketing Conference, (2023) - Led a discussion on “Building and Leading Successful Marketing Teams.”

  • The University of Indiana, (2021) - Led a discussion on “10 Important Lessons I’ve Learned in My Career.”

  • The Connect CMO Leadership Summit in Chicago, (2018) - Led a discussion on, “The use of core principles and buyer journeys to transform brand integration & customer experience to drive business performance.”

  • The University of Cincinnati, Linder Business School, (2012 - 2014) - Led discussions on “Creating Effective B2B Marketing Plans” and “The Value of Effective Experiential Brand Experiences.”

    • I also collaborated with the University of Cincinnati Business School Staff to lead undergraduate & graduate class discussions on career counseling & non-traditional career planning including 1:1 mentoring & mock interviews during that time.